Making money with Multicades? worth it?

Malice95

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I see many KLOV'rs making them and My local craigs list is full of them. They seem to run around 1k+ in my area (NJ) for a 60 in 1 arcade.

Running the numbers in my head it seems like a pretty low profit venture unless I convert a beat up cab or ruin a classic that I got cheap. (which I wont do)

I'm obviously missing something.. In the "show us your multicade pics" thread a while back there was one person posting pics of 5 or 6 scratch built
Galage UR multicades at a time. And others talking about scratch building 30 or 40 machines. They obviously arent cheap to build.

Wood, paint, coin door, locks, side art, jamma harness, power supply, cp, buttons, joystick, 60 in 1 board, usb trackball, cpo, marquee, bezel, 19" monitor (lcd or crt), t-molding & your time.

What am I missing? Where is the profit for all the time these take to make?
 
I had made one out of a Scramble upright. Konami to Jamma adapter and a 60 in 1 board I sold it to a friend for 500. Made a nice profit only one so far

Andrew
 
I see many KLOV'rs making them and My local craigs list is full of them. They seem to run around 1k+ in my area (NJ) for a 60 in 1 arcade.

Running the numbers in my head it seems like a pretty low profit venture unless I convert a beat up cab or ruin a classic that I got cheap. (which I wont do)

I'm obviously missing something.. In the "show us your multicade pics" thread a while back there was one person posting pics of 5 or 6 scratch built
Galage UR multicades at a time. And others talking about scratch building 30 or 40 machines. They obviously arent cheap to build.

Wood, paint, coin door, locks, side art, jamma harness, power supply, cp, buttons, joystick, 60 in 1 board, usb trackball, cpo, marquee, bezel, 19" monitor (lcd or crt), t-molding & your time.

What am I missing? Where is the profit for all the time these take to make?


Most of the ones I see on craiglist can be made for 400$ or less and they usually sell for 900$, so 500$ profit isnt bad and most guys can throw these things together in a day.

Old cab- 50$
cheap joysticks and buttons - 20$
icade pcb- 120$
jamma harnes - 15$
power supply - 25$
marequee and control panel overlay - 60$
paint supplies - 40$
lcd monitor - 100$ or free crt pc monitor

as you can see its really not expensive at all to make, if i had a job at home and didnt travel so much id be pumping them out left and right
 
The profit is made by sniping cheap cabs from CL, and stripping broken/non-working/junked cabs & retrofitting them with 60-1 kits.

The biggest profit margin is made by either finding a cab with a working/repairable monitor, or swapping in a PC monitor of similar size that you get for free somewhere.

The guys I see around here that are doing multi builds for profit are not doing it to get rich, but more doing for a few extra bucks for friends and network acquaintances.

I know it's a topic for another thread, but I personally share no love anyone who carves up a salvageable classic for a multi-build. Shame on them if they don't uphold the one basic rule in classic arcade collecting: preserve or pass.
 
To add to your question – do they even sell? I see them listed on craigslist and eBay all the time listed between 1K and 1.5K, but I have no idea if any of them ever actually sell at those prices.

Maybe a couple of years ago you could get 1K or more, but I just don't see it happening now.
 
To add to your question – do they even sell? I see them listed on craigslist and eBay all the time listed between 1K and 1.5K, but I have no idea if any of them ever actually sell at those prices.

Maybe a couple of years ago you could get 1K or more, but I just don't see it happening now.

Im sellling my ms pac cocktail 60 - 1 for 1,000$ on sunday, and yes they do sell where i live at
 
Damn, you guys are fast typers. There were no responses yet when I began typing and after I posted there were three responses ahead of me. LOL
 
Im sellling my ms pac cocktail 60 - 1 for 1,000$ on sunday, and yes they do sell where i live at

Wow. You can't sell much of anything for more than $500 around here. Except an original PacMan in good condition – that will get 1K no problem.
 
Yeah, I don't know what the deal is with the Pac cabs on the East Coast. I see them going for $1K all the time. Here in the Midwest they will only fetch around $750, and that's if they're near mint. Most of the used ones are going for around $500-700 if they're fully working.

My Ms Pac restore will cost me over $900 when it's all said and done, but in the end I'll have a minty fresh Ms Pac. So I guess that's all that matters.
 
I make Multicades out of 25" monitor Mortal Kombat cabs. Around here there is not much money doing them as a business, but they make for great suprise bonuses when someone actually buys one. I have a new design I am fixing to do with either a 32" LCD, or a 40" LCD monitor, and a tube frame. It will be my Mega Multi for the skating rink. I laugh at the guys making a multicade out of anything they can get their hands on. Most customers know garbage when they see it. I have my own artwork design, and give a 1 year warranty. I usually sell the old design for $1500 to $2500 depending on who is buying and what they want as far as upgrades/options. Full side art cost ME right around $250, then I have to waste tons of time putting it on. So I charge a buttload for it. The one in the pic below has neon string under transparent tmoulding, and lights up when it hears the sounds of the game.

Multicadealmostdone.jpg
 
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I try to spend no more than $400 on parts for a pretty nice one that I'll slap together from an old jamma cab. I try to spend no more than 16-20 hours refurbishing the cabinet, cutting new plexi, and installing all the parts.

I can sell those pretty nice ones for $850 pretty fast. Easier to do that work for a day rather than going out and doing my real job for a day.

The cheapest one I sold was $500, but that was my first and it had an obsolete 48-in-1, and cheaper or free parts. I think I only had $100 or $150 into it.
I just sold two last weekend at $600 each. I got some discounted boards and utilized the guts in the jamma cabs to power them. So after a got some generic arts slapped on them, I was able to sell the half-assed ones with only $150 worth of parts and one day's work within 24 hours each.
 
All right.. so it looks like most are repurpousing cr@p cabinets...

How about those who are scratch building?

We dont have many cr@p cabinets in NJ. They really dont come up
that often. To be honset I cant see selling a used dinged up cabinet
for 1k + after it gets the Multicade treatment.
 
There is ZERO money to be made in scratch building multi cabs. Some have gotten lucky. But the market's just not quite there as a self-sustaining opportunity. That is, unless you are OK with devaluing your labor cost to almost free.
 
I guess my metal framed Multicade could be considered a scratch cabinet. It will look like the new Golden Tee cabs. They will sell for between $3000 and $5000 depending on options. I am also in the design process of building a wheelchair accessable Multicade for the kiddos that cant reach the controls on a regular size game. Its not always about the money. That and it always makes me wanna cry when I have friggin 80+ games in the arcade here, and theres nothing for the handicapped kids to do. Sometimes the dad will pick them up and put them in the driving games. Messes with my head. Hence the design.
 

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Wow thats a really nice idea! The wheelchair height cab.

I'm betting there are a lot of wheelchair friendly places that would
like a cab like that. Maybe a CP the chair can roll under.
 
Yeah, if you have a public location that gets wheelchairs, that's a great idea. You may want to actually get in touch with a local organization so you can get their ideas of how it should be designed (width, etc.) they may know some things you don't about being in a chair.
 
I bought a jamma cab with wires and monitor for $100. Found a 60 in 1 board on ebay for $60. Built a new control panel for a few bucks more, and it works perfectly. I see them all the time on craigslist in Denver for $1299.00 or more. I cant imagine anyone would spend that much on even a really nice one. BUt I suppose if they dont know how to hook one up themselves, they will pay the money for one.
 
From the point of view of us techs/mechs, it is hard to believe that we are rare, and extremely valuable to the world. There are so many people out there that don't have a clue as to how anything works. They just want one. And will pay through the teeth to get it. I don't mind taking advantage of it to feed my kids. I kill my boss on pay cause there is nobody else that can do what I do with games, and restorations. I usually buy games for $25-$50 and rebuild them, saving thousands.
 
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